Detective: Suspect in police shooting used shower during standoff

The man accused of shooting a police officer during a Hilton Avenue burglary used the homeowner’s shower during a standoff with police that last more than four hours, according to testimony Wednesday in Columbus Recorder’s Court.

Daniel Ray Crisp, 34, pleaded not guilty to numerous charges stemming from the incident that left the officer with minor injuries and caused damage to the burglarized residence in the 3300 block of Hilton Avenue.

Columbus Police Detective Sgt. Joseph Hart said officer Joshua McQuien was one of two officers dispatched to the house when the security alarm sounded around 2:28 p.m. Friday. Police found a white scooter parked near the residence that did not belong there.

It was later determined that the scooter was stolen earlier that day from a house near 18th Avenue and the Lakebottom area, according to police.

After finding broken glass on the scene, the responding officers called additional units to assist and three officers, including McQuien, entered the home.

Hart said McQuien, who was wearing a bulletproof vest at the time, was trying to clear an upstairs bedroom when he was shot in the left shoulder upon entrance. The bullet was deflected by the vest but it bruised him, according to police.

He took cover and called the officers to the bedroom, where four more shots were fired, Hart testified. No one else was harmed, and McQuien was treated at Midtown Medical Center and released.

The SWAT team was called to the scene as police tried to negotiate with the armed suspect, who was barricaded in the upstairs bedroom and refusing to surrender.

Richards Middle School and adjacent Clubview Elementary School were placed on “secure perimeter,” said Muscogee County School District communications director Valerie Fuller. That meant nobody was allowed outside the buildings, but the schools operated as normal. She said both schools dismissed at its regular times.

After more than four hours, police set off four flash-bang devices at the home to distract the suspect in one area while police entered the home in another location. They also used a PA system to try to communicate with the suspect, said Columbus Police Chief Ricky Boren.

Over the next hour, officers went from room to room and floor to floor within that house searching for the suspect.

“We made sure that we had totally cleared it as we worked our way into the house,” Boren said on the scene around 4:48 p.m. Friday. “We worked our way to the room we believed him to be in and applied gas. Once the gas was applied, he came out soon. That was in the top rear of the house.”

Crisp was taken into police custody in the upstairs bathroom and charged with one count each of aggravated assault against a peace officer, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, theft by taking motor vehicle, obstruction and criminal damage to property.

Hart said Crisp told police that a man named “Bobby” was in the house with him during the standoff, but authorities believe he was the only suspect involved. Surveillance video shows Crisp arriving to the Hilton Avenue residence on the stolen scooter, but doesn’t show any other individuals, according to police.

The detective said multiple bullet holes were found in the home as well as a large hole in the drywall of the upstairs bathroom.

“Inside that bathroom, there were two shotguns right in front of that hole, where he could assault any victim or officer who came up that stairwell,” Hart said, who later clarified that the firearms belonged to the homeowner.

After further investigation, police determined that the suspect caused even more damage when he used the victim’s shower.

“We also discovered the suspect apparently used the shower while he was in the bathroom, causing the water to overflow,” Hart said. “It reached the floor and caused water damage.”

Represented by Columbus public defender Charles Lykins, Crisp didn’t give a testimony about the Hilton Avenue incident.

Judge Michael Cielinski ordered him in the Muscogee County Jail under bonds totaling $469,000. The case was bound over to Superior Court.

This story was originally published October 26, 2016 at 12:30 PM with the headline "Detective: Suspect in police shooting used shower during standoff."